The deadlift set-up is easy, says Kelly Starrett: get stiff, load the hips, send the knees forward, pull back, stand up. It’s a strategy athletes should use every time they approach the barbell, and it becomes increasingly important when they’re tired, he says.

“We want to do the same thing every time, particularly when it becomes a complex motor skill and all of a sudden there’s a lot of things going on—I’m breathing hard, I’m almost in the pain cave, I really can’t see anything, but there’s 150,000 people cheering for me and everything’s getting small,” Starrett says.

He adds: “I need to be able to walk up to the bar and get stiff and pull without having to make this a very conscious move. And so I want my default patterning to be safe and effective and efficient and the same every time.”

In his Movement and Mobility Trainer Course, Starrett advises the class to tighten up the belly and squeeze the butt. The priority should be on spinal mechanics first, then loading from the hip and hamstring down.

Externally rotating the ankles not only creates the right tension, but it also stabilizes the back and forces the torso upright. Mobility guru Kelly Starrett says the movement is important for… Continue Reading

16 Comments on “The Deadlift Set-Up”

Finally! Kelly covered this during lunch at the Mob cert in Chicago and we, well, went to lunch. When we got back they were just finishing this and I was bummed we missed it. Fantastic stuff. DL tomorrow! Bam.

Great video as always, Kelly! I was wondering if we could make a clarification though. He mentioned that instantaneous overextension that occurs in the back when we initiate the squat. Is this something that is supposed to occur to ensure that the athlete maintains an upright torso for the squat? Or do we keep the back neutral (while 'closing the car door' with our hips) during the squat? Any clarification here would be super--thanks!

Ryan. He said perturbations, not pervation. And he used triage correctly... when you're in a bad situation and you have to decide what (or who) to sacrifice in order to save something or someone else. In his example: you're in a lousy deadlift position, you have to sacrifice one thing (hamstring tension?) to save something else (lumbar curve?)

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